


Shades of Cool

by hyperclone (orphan_account)



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Flashbacks, Gen, Pining, Reminiscing, Stream of Consciousness, Unrequited Love, hes major in this story not in the actual anime lmao, im using that as an excuse for why its all over the place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 16:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19429405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/hyperclone
Summary: As he bleeds out from Ash's bullet, Lao's last remaining thoughts lead him back to Shorter.





	Shades of Cool

**Author's Note:**

> wrote this in like 5 minutes bc i'm sad

Everything Lao did, he did for Shorter. So as he sat on the concrete bleeding out, only one thing mattered to him.

They had fought the day before Ash left for California. The day before everything changed. He had asked him to stay, but Shorter wouldn’t listen...could never listen to what Lao said.  _ Ash can do fine on his own. He doesn’t need your help. I need - we need you. _ But need had nothing to do with it, and Lao knew the truth even as he begged otherwise.  _ You’re always choosing him over us. Over your Chinese brothers. _ Why did he always have to play Judas? Why did he always have to be the one waiting? The one pleading? He was sick of it. And those damn sunglasses blocked any emotion his Shorter’s eyes might’ve shown. Lao knew he was annoying - overreacting. But Shorter meant the world to him, and there he was, leaving again. 

_ You know what? Fuck you. I’m so sick of your shit, Wong. _ He didn’t mean it. He never meant anything he said. He wished he could take it back, every nasty word he had barked out to Shorter. Every cruel thing he had said to Sing. Gang wars, shoot outs, shitty Chinese food, they had been through it all. Only for Lao to end up like this, dying outside the New York Library.

The bullet wound gushed blood. So much...He had never seen so much. He could feel his consciousness slipping, his body going into shock. It was kind of funny, really. Him and Shorter being killed by the same bastard. At least they’d have something in common. He almost laughed, and blood came pouring out of his mouth. So much...so much blood. 

Apparently, Sing had seen the body, with Ash’s figure watching Shorter burn into nothing. That’s all Shorter was to Ash - nothing. Like a sick animal watching its prey twitch for the last time. Maybe Ash was watching him from around the corner now. Another life stripped away by the lynx. Yet Sing put him before Lao again, just like Shorter had. Lao didn’t mean a thing to everyone closest to him. What a pleasant thought to die with.

Ash would probably survive his pathetic attack. It had been so impulsive, so  _ stupid _ , but Lao Yen had done it anyway. He wanted justice for Shorter. For Sing. His little brother..where was he now? Presumably dead. Caught up in Ash’s plans. He hated him, more than Lao had hated anything before. All he ever did was use and manipulate his friends. His Shorter.  _ His  _ Shorter. The person he had spent years laughing with. Bickering with. Pitifully loving. Now it was all gone. Their inside jokes, their secrets, their dance parties in Shorter’s room, it all died with Lao. No one else would have it. This piece of metal lodged in his stomach had Shorter’s name written on it. He was waiting for him. To make new handshakes, to have late night junk food. Maybe Lao would die with a smile on his face after all.

But probably not.


End file.
